Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

Black & Decker SmartBrew DCM400 8-Cup Coffee Maker Key FeaturesTypeCoffee MakerCapacity8 CupOperation SourceElectric Technical Feature...

Black & Decker SmartBrew DCM2550 12-Cup Coffee Maker Key FeaturesTypeCoffee MakerCapacity12 Cup Technical FeaturesBuilt-in GrinderWithou...

I’ve had the Black and Decker Thermal Select Plus TCM508 about two months and so far it is fantastic. The black coffee maker with it’s sleek silver carafe looks great on our counter.

There is a Digital Clock with built-in timer so you can set it to come on before you get up. There is a lighted ON for manual on or the auto timer so you know it is still brewing (the brewing is really quiet so the light helps). The coffee brews in about 5 minutes, shuts off automatically and tastes perfect. The coffee goes directly into the insulated carafe and stays hot for hours.

There is a Sneak-A-Cup feature which lets you grab a cup before it finishes brewing if you can’t wait the full five minutes. I’m not sure if this cup would be as delicious as a fully brewed cup (my impression, not my experience).

There is a water level window with easy to read cup levels. There is an 8 cup maximum (40 ounces as per the box description). We use 12 ounce mugs, just enough for 4 mugs of coffee with a little room for sugar or milk. We use only 4 coffee scoops (the scoop that comes with Chock Full O’Nuts coffee which is actually 1+1/2 rounded measuring tablespoons per scoop or a total of 6 rounded tablespoons for the 4 scoop measures) per the maximum water level of 8 cups and the coffee is perfect.

The swing out filter basket is easily removed and dishwasher safe. We bought a permanent mesh coffee filter at Zabar’s which was actually just a little too large for the filter basket. There is another brand (Swiss Gold) which I will try when it comes in and I’ll update my review if it fits or not. Otherwise we’ll have to keep hunting for a permanent mesh filter or keep a stock of paper filters.

Some of the previous reviews that I read, particularly the ones that had water and grinds spilling out all over the place may have had the problem because of one of the following reasons; they didn’t screw the cap onto the carafe before brewing the coffee. It is crucial that the cap be on the carafe since it causes the filter basket’s flexible knob to press upwards allowing the coffee to exit the filter basket into and through the lid of the carafe. Without that, the brewing coffee fills up the basket with no place to exit and finally explodes all over the place (trust me, I know about this first hand from a previous similar model). Also, even if the cap is on the carafe, if the flexible knob is jammed because of dirt or trapped coffee grinds or a bad spring on the knob or carafe lid, again the coffee will get trapped in the basket with no place to go except to blow out all over the place.

I bought this refurbished from Heartland Catalog for $19.99 plus $6.95 shipping. I wonder if this was sent back because the first buyer didn’t screw the cap on the carafe before brewing. It works great and hopefully it will last me a long time because I really love it. As far as I’m concerned I will only use coffee makers with Thermal Carafes since coffee makers with hot plates only end up burning the coffee and turning it into mud. It is difficult to find a Thermal carafe coffee maker for less than $100 so this was a steal.

One slight annoyance is when I come back for a second cup of coffee, after I move the filter basket out of the way to lift the carafe, condensation above where the basket had been causes a few drops of water to drip down onto the clock timer. Even though the clock timer is sealed in a clear plastic membrane my paranoia of water near anything electrical is disquieting to me. I try to prevent this by placing a sponge to catch the drip. I’m sure there is no danger but I prefer to keep it dry.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: My husband found a rubber ring (aka gasket or washer) in the sink and couldn’t figure out where it came from. It was quite large and we realized it was part of the carafe’s screw in cap where it makes contact with the carafe. We easily slipped it back on to the cap and it has not come off yet since it fit perfectly. Without this rubber ring I’m sure the coffee would not stay hot for as long as it does since the ring makes the cap a tight fit on the carafe.

ADDITIONAL INFO: I finally found a reusable mesh basket filter that fits the basket perfectly. It is Cuisinart Basket Gold Tone Filter Model GTF-B, $9.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond.

UPDATE 7/3/05: A weird event happened. One morning the brewing was uncommonly noisy. I ignored it but the next morning while I was out of town my husband Ed told me the coffeemaker is broken. Even though he brewed himself 2 cups, when he went to pour a cup, there was no coffee or water to be found. He figured he may have forgotten to put the water in so he tried it again and again no water was to be found anywhere after the coffeemaker stopped. I tried to think what could have caused this weirdness and it occurred to me that 2 nights before Ed had put a piece of Scotchtape over a small hole at the back of the brewer which is just above the water line. Ed figured it would keep water from dripping out of the hole in case he put in too much water. We decided to remove the tape just in case this was the cause of the weirdness and sure enough the coffeemaker brewed the perfect coffee as usual. All we can think of is the hole is to allow steam and air (though another vertical hole in the back) to mix and allow proper flow. There you have it, a solution to a weird event except for the puzzle of where the water went when it didn’t work properly.

IMPORTANT UPDATE 3/23/06 - It’s still working great but this morning after it stopped brewing I found about a half a cup of coffee leaked onto the counter. We immediately knew the cap to the carafe had become clogged. It happened once before and if the cap is clogged it won’t allow coffee to drip down into the carafe. You need to submerge the cap in warm water til air bubbles stop coming out of the tiny hole on the side. If no bubbles come out at all take a small wire or twist tie and slip it into the hole. This will dislodge any accumulated coffee sludge that may have clogged the cap. Once the cap is filled with water hold it so the hole is facing down into the sink and shake it until the water is all drained out. You should see small black specks of sludge. I suggest you do this fill and shake routine at least 2 more times until no more sludge comes out. Everything should work fine for months after but it wouldn’t hurt to do the water and shake trick on a regular basis.

7/11/07 - IMPORTANT UPDATE BY THE HUSBAND. Linda has mentioned the regular maintenance of the carafe’s screw-on cap. This cap has 2 holes probably for venting. A large hole can be seen on the bottom next to the valve that is pushed down when the filter holder slides over the carafe. Another smaller hole is found on the side just below the top part of the cap. On the top of the cap it says POUR and KEEP WARM. To the right of KEEP WARM, on the “threads,” you’ll see the small hole. This is the problem hole that creates the hell Linda has mentioned with the overflow of coffee. It seems that there is a large space inside the cap which acts as a reservoir and traps brewed coffee. After many uses the coffee seems to leave deposits inside that when they reach this hole clog it. My regular maintenance releases this material almost all of this material. However, today, we had the biggest surprise of all. During one of my fill, shake, and expel procedures a long (about 1″+) “thread” of a viscous material came out of the hole and just hung there. I immediately grabbed my digital camera and took a photo for posterity. I pulled the thread out and gave the cap additional treatments. If you want to receive a copy of this photo, send me your request at tvrodman2003@yahoo.com and I’ll send the photo in the body of an email reply. It will be a low resolution photo but clear. You won’t believe it!

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